Short-term rental advisory · California and beyond
Buy the right property. Build something people travel for. Run it properly.
Three things decide whether a short-term rental works, and most owners get at least one of them wrong. We do all three — for someone buying their first, for a small group buying together, and for owners whose property is already open and underperforming.
An advisory and services firm. Nothing on this site is an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any security or any interest in any property.
Where people start
Three ways in. None of them require a partner.
Most of our clients buy on their own. Some buy with other people to reach a property none of them could underwrite alone. Some already own one that isn't working. All three are the same job, done at different points.
Path one
Buying on your own
The most common route, and the simplest. One owner, one property, no partnership agreement and nobody to agree with. The whole cheque, and the whole upside.
How it worksPath two
Buying with partners
Co-ownership lowers the entry and lets the same money reach a better property, or sit across two markets instead of one. It adds a governing document and people to agree with. Worth it for some, not for everyone.
What that involvesPath three
You already own one
It's open, it's booking, and the numbers are thinner than the spreadsheet promised. Usually that is pricing, photography, or the fact that the house has nothing to say. All three are fixable without selling.
RepositioningThe thesis
A house that competes on price will always lose to whoever needs the money least.
The problem
Grey floors, white kitchen, a sign about coffee
Guests sort that house by price against forty identical ones and against the chain hotel eight minutes away. When price is the only variable, the winner is whoever paid cash and can afford to discount — which is never the person who just bought in.
New supply arrives every year. Nothing about a well-finished ordinary house stops it.
The alternative
A property people search for by name
Guests plan trips around it, drive past cheaper options to reach it, book it a year out for a fortieth birthday, and photograph it for free on your behalf. It books midweek and off-season, when the house down the street sits empty.
The buildout costs real money. So does the pricing power it buys.
Services
Hired separately. Declined separately.
Take one, take all three, or take none and use us for the parts your own team doesn't cover. The property is yours either way.
Brokerage and acquisition
Choosing the market before choosing the house, reading the short-term rental ordinance before making an offer, and underwriting the property so it still works as a long-term rental if the rules change.
- Market and submarket selection
- Ordinance and permit review
- Comparable rate and occupancy data
- Financing paths for one owner or several
Design and buildout
Turning an ordinary house into somewhere people travel for — concept, budget, trades, furnishing, and the photography that carries the listing.
- Concept selection for the market
- Buildout budget and scope
- Trades, procurement, and install
- Professional photography and listing copy
Property management
The operating reality that decides whether the spreadsheet ever happens. Terminable on notice, benchmarked against outside bids, with the books open.
- Listing, pricing, and channel management
- Turns, cleaning, and maintenance
- Monthly statements and open books
- Reserve planning and capital scheduling
Destination concepts
Ten buildouts that give a house a reason to be booked.
Design concepts, not properties for sale. Each one answers a single question: why would somebody drive past three cheaper options to stay here?
Who you would be working with
Twenty-seven years, on every side of the transaction.
- Real estate brokerage Owned and operated. Finding the property, running real comparables, and negotiating the purchase is what most buyers get wrong first.
- Mortgage brokerage Owned and operated. Financing a short-term rental is not financing a house, and financing one held by several people is harder still. Knowing which lenders will do it is not a small advantage.
- Property management Owned and operated. Cleaning, turns, maintenance, and the operating reality that decides whether the numbers ever happen.
- Design and buildout Concept, budget, trades, and the photography that determines whether the work you paid for ever reaches a guest.
A conflict, stated plainly. A firm that can broker your purchase, design your buildout, and then manage the property has an obvious interest in you buying all three. Every fee is disclosed in writing before you commit and benchmarked against outside bids, each service is contracted separately so declining one changes nothing about the others, and every agreement is terminable on notice. Hire one, hire all three, or hire a competitor. More on this
How we're paid
For work performed. Never for introductions.
What we charge for
The three services
- Brokerage Paid the way a real estate commission is always paid, and disclosed on the settlement statement.
- Design and buildout Scoped and quoted before work begins.
- Property management A market-rate fee, benchmarked, terminable on notice.
What we don't charge for
Meeting other investors
- The interest list Free to join, free to leave. No capital is ever requested through it.
- Events and introductions Free. People who want to buy together meet here and decide for themselves who they want to be in business with.
There is no fee for putting a group together and no piece of anybody's deal is taken. Introductions are free on purpose — charging for them would make this a securities business, with a very different set of rules for everyone. Simpler to be paid for work actually performed.
Start with a conversation.
Whether you're looking at your first property, thinking about buying with other people, or sitting on one that isn't performing — the first call is about what you're trying to do. Nothing is sold on it.
Get in touch